The present disclosure relates to zinc sulfide, more specifically to zinc sulfide modified surfaces.
Zinc sulfide is a material used in a variety of optical elements. For some applications, the performance of zinc sulfide optical elements can be improved by coating or treating the zinc sulfide with organic polymers. However, due to the fundamental chemical differences between the ionic salt-like structure of the zinc sulfide and the non-polar nature of the polymers, the organic polymers poorly adhere to the zinc sulfide surfaces. These differences in the chemical nature of the two materials can result in poor wetting of the zinc sulfide, which can lead to poor adhesion.
In other systems, adhesion promoters or primers can be used to couple the organic polymers to the inorganic surfaces. For example, in glasses, silanes can be used as such a promoter/primer.